Video of boy punching, slapping unconscious teen girl leads to arrest, Texas cops say

A teen boy has been charged after video circulated of him repeatedly punching and slapping an unconscious teen girl, Texas police say.

Media outlets have identified the teen in the video as 17-year-old Ernesto Barrera, who is facing an assault charge, KENS reported. The incident took place Aug. 5, and Barrera was charged Saturday, according to the TV station.

The video posted on social media shows a teen turned around in the front seat of the car before the camera pans to an unconscious 15-year-old girl who is struck in the face by the teen. Later, the same teen is shown with hands up near his face in a manner resembling that of a boxer.

The driver — who said she was the only sober person in the car — had made a pit stop for food when she realized the victim would not wake up, KABB reported.

After she tried to wake the victim to no avail, she told police Barrera started hitting the victim in the face “with force,” KSAT reported. Laughter is heard in the video and a passenger reportedly tells the suspect to “chill,” according to the news outlet.

The video was posted to Twitter where it has been retweeted more than 14,000 times. It has been viewed more than 1.5 million times.

Police say the victim is planning to report a “possible sexual assault” that she says took place around the same time as the assault, KABB reported.

Barrera is being held in Bexar County Jail on $1,000 bond, KENS reported.

This story was originally published August 12, 2019 at 9:46 AM.